Aimer: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Aimer means “to love, to like”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for aimer, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with aimer, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “J'aime le chocolat tous les jours.” — “I love chocolate every day.”
- “Tu aimes mes amis de Paris tous les jours.” — “You love my friends from Paris every day.”
- “J'ai aimé lire le soir cette semaine.” — “I have loved reading in the evening this week.”
- “Il aimait le chocolat autrefois.” — “He used to love chocolate in the past.”
- “Nous aimerons mes amis de Paris demain.” — “We will love my friends from Paris tomorrow.”
- “Tu as aimé lire le soir cette semaine.” — “You have loved reading in the evening this week.”
- “J'aimerais le chocolat un jour.” — “I would love chocolate one day.”
- “Il est important que il aime mes amis de Paris.” — “It is important that he love my friends from Paris.”
- “Nous avions aimé lire le soir avant la fête.” — “We had loved reading in the evening before the party.”
- “Il aimera le chocolat demain.” — “He will love chocolate tomorrow.”
- “Ils aiment mes amis de Paris tous les jours.” — “They love my friends from Paris every day.”
- “Aime lire le soir !” — “Love reading in the evening!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about chocolate. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how aimer changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of aimer below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “J'aime le chocolat tous les jours.” — “I love chocolate every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “J'aimerai mes amis de Paris demain.” — “I will love my friends from Paris tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai aimé lire le soir cette semaine.” — “I have loved reading in the evening this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “J'aimerais le chocolat un jour.” — “I would love chocolate one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Aimer in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of aimer that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, aimer describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is aime: “J'aime le chocolat tous les jours.” — “I love chocolate every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, aimer describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is aimait: “Il aimait mes amis de Paris autrefois.” — “He used to love my friends from Paris in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, aimer reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle aimé. The je form is ai aimé: “J'ai aimé lire le soir cette semaine.” — “I have loved reading in the evening this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, aimer talks about what will happen. The nous form is aimerons: “Nous aimerons le chocolat demain.” — “We will love chocolate tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, aimer talks about what would happen. The tu form is aimerais: “Tu aimerais mes amis de Paris un jour.” — “You would love my friends from Paris one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, aimer appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is aime, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que j'aime lire le soir.” — “It is important that I love reading in the evening.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je aimer le chocolat.”
✓ Right: “Je aime le chocolat.”
The infinitive aimer never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form aime.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu aime le chocolat.”
✓ Right: “Tu aimes le chocolat.”
aime is the je form. With tu you need aimes. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je aime le chocolat hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai aimé le chocolat hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai aimé, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu aimes mes amis de Paris.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu aimes mes amis de Paris.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: aimes, not the indicative aimes.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je aimé le chocolat.”
✓ Right: “Je ai aimé le chocolat.”
The passé composé of aimer needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle aimé: the full je form is ai aimé.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on aimer. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of aimer in the Present indicative?
- A) aime
- B) aimes
- C) aimons
- D) aimez
What is the tu form of aimer in the Present indicative?
- A) aimez
- B) aimes
- C) aime
- D) aimons
What is the il/elle form of aimer in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) ai aimé
- B) as aimé
- C) avons aimé
- D) a aimé
What is the nous form of aimer in the Imperfect?
- A) aimions
- B) aimais
- C) aimait
- D) aimiez
What is the tu form of aimer in the Future?
- A) aimera
- B) aimerons
- C) aimeras
- D) aimerai
What is the je form of aimer in the Conditional?
- A) aimeriez
- B) aimerais
- C) aimerait
- D) aimerions
What is the il/elle form of aimer in the Present subjunctive?
- A) aime
- B) aimes
- C) aimions
- D) aimiez
What is the je form of aimer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avais aimé
- B) avait aimé
- C) avions aimé
- D) aviez aimé
What is the gerund of aimer?
- A) en vivant
- B) en sentant
- C) en restant
- D) en aimant
What does aimer mean in English?
- A) to live
- B) to feel
- C) to stay
- D) to love, to like
Answer key
- A) aime — the je form of aimer in the Present indicative is aime. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) aimes — the tu form of aimer in the Present indicative is aimes. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) a aimé — the il/elle form of aimer in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a aimé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) aimions — the nous form of aimer in the Imperfect is aimions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) aimeras — the tu form of aimer in the Future is aimeras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) aimerais — the je form of aimer in the Conditional is aimerais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) aime — the il/elle form of aimer in the Present subjunctive is aime. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) avais aimé — the je form of aimer in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais aimé. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) en aimant — the gerund of aimer is en aimant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) to love, to like — aimer means “to love, to like” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does aimer mean in English?
aimer means “to love, to like”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is aimer regular or irregular?
aimer is regular in every tense. The gerund is aimant and the past participle is aimé.
How do I practise aimer every day?
Say one sentence with aimer in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “J'aime le chocolat tous les jours.”, “J'ai aimé le chocolat cette semaine.” and “J'aimerai le chocolat demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for aimer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of aimer — every tense of aimer in one place.
- Aimer in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Aimer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Vivre conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Sentir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Rester conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise aimer with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise aimer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise aimer with the interactive tool.